The harmless rebuilding of a Ford 312 quickly spirals out of control as we realize it would look better in an engine bay then a garage.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Another 57 Ranchero for sale

After not having much luck with the first Ranchero, we kept looking for another. It just looked like the right kind of car and there didn't seem to be a lot of them around. If we were looking for a 57 Chevy, this would be easy. Just like opinions, everyone has one.

A couple of weeks later, I stumbled across another 57 Ranchero listed on Craigslist. This one looked a lot better then the first one. It was listed at $2500 and it had a running engine and transmission in it. I eagerly sent an email to the posting and awaited a response. A few days pass with no response and then a couple of weeks go by with nothing. I guess it was too good to be true.

Just when I started moving on, I see the posting appear again! I quickly email again and received a response the next day. It was a running car that was currently registered and driven on the street. For $1000 more then the rusted body we looked at (with no title, engine, and transmission) we were looking at something we could drive home.

The next day, we went and took a look at the car. It had some rust in the rockers and quarter panels but nothing to shy away from. The bench seat had been replaced by some buckets seats and some modifications had been made such as power assist steering and staggered shocks. It needed some attention but the color was pretty consistent and it started right up.

We made an offer of $2000 based on condition and the work needed. Everything negotiable right? They needed to think it over and see if anyone else was interested. We left with high hopes and thought about the things we would do to the car. Dreams of cruising to Foster's Freeze could soon be a reality!

That night, a call came in agreeing to our price. Sweet lady liberty! The next day we went over with cash in had to make the deal. The guy threw in some of the "original" parts from the car like a differential and transmission. There were also a bunch of other parts as well in a box. Alan points out "That's not a 9" ford." Original indeed...

The guy was working on the carb when we got there. They had "driven" it down the freeway a few days ago and it ran fine. There was a little problem with the carb flooding so he wanted to make it right before we took it away. We took a quick drive down to the parts store to pickup a power valve and it was soon running again.

The deal was done and we prepared to roll out and head home. Alan suggests that we take the back way to my house and avoid the freeway. I wanted to make a straight shot of it but pulling off on a side street sounds better the pulling over on the freeway. Let's roll!